Penndot Hopes To End Canal Worries

August 28, 1993|by SUSAN TODD, The Morning Call

Transportation officials want to meet informally with members of a state historical commission next week in hope of resolving concerns that construction of a new Treichlers Bridge would damage the historic Lehigh Canal.

Bob Keller, who has overseen environmental reviews of the bridge project for PennDOT, said the state Historical and Museum Commission initially asked PennDOT to make certain considerations during the bridge construction.

But generally, Keller said, the commission indicated the project would not adversely affect the canal or the canal towpath.

In a new letter, which was released last week, the commission reversed that opinion and surprised PennDOT officials, who have spent five years working on plans to replace the 59-year-old Treichlers Bridge.

"We're hoping an informal meeting will resolve this issue," Keller said yesterday.

Archaeological digs at the site have found prehistoric Indian remains dating to an estimated 6500 B.C. as well as artifacts from other periods that archaeologists say show cultural evolution.

The bridge, named after the village of Treichlers, spans the Lehigh River and connects Route 145 between Lehigh County's North Whitehall Township and Lehigh Township in Northampton County.

PennDOT is proposing to build a four-lane bridge just west of the span.

The project, scheduled to begin no earlier than 1995, is expected to cost $12 million.

Construction of the bridge, as outlined by PennDOT, would require contractors to fill in a portion of the canal and blanket the towpath with a layer of dirt.

Afterward, contractors would excavate the canal.

"They're going to have to fill in the canal and then remove the fill. That could damage the resource," said Kurt Carr, who heads the museum commission's Division of Archaeology and Protection.

PennDOT and museum commission officials agreed on one thing:

The project may be delayed, but a new bridge will be built -- possibly exactly the way PennDOT has proposed.

"We'd rather they didn't do anything to the canal," Carr said, "but we accept the fact that bridges and roads have to be built.

"Nowhere in this process do we have the opportunity to say no," he said. "They'll go ahead with the project; there's no question."

Under federal regulations, when a highway or bridge project will adversely affect a historically or environmentally sensitive site, options have to be considered, Carr said.

The federal regulations, according to Carr, ensure that everything possible is done to mitigate the impact on historically or environmentally significant areas.

In this case, PennDOT officials say they may have to present some other plan which will not disturb the canal or the canal towpath during bridge construction.

Ultimately, Carr said, the museum commission's latest opinion could cause the project to be delayed for as long as 60 days.

Keller acknowledged that PennDOT may have to propose ways of lessening damage to the canal.

"The downside of it is we'll spend more money. We'll have to spend more money to come up with those mitigation plans," Keller said.

"If they hold to this," he said, "we're in for a more detailed environmental study that could delay the project."

The site is considered significant because of the canal -- part of a 150-mile historic corridor that stretches from Luzerne County to an area outside Philadelphia.

Archaeological digs, required under state and federal law, have also turned up significant evidence of prehistoric life, according to Carr.

PennDOT authorized digs on the site in 1988 and again in 1989 and 1990. Those digs, according to Carr, turned up evidence of prehistoric Indian camps dating back to 6500 B.C.

Carr said the spot is stratified, so in one area archaeologists have detected artifacts --charred animal bones, chips of stone tools, spear points -- from several time periods, including 2000 and 1000 B.C.

Pottery, evidence of hearths and charred corn have also been uncovered, possibly dating to about 1200 AD, he said.

"At a site like this you can see how man was evolving culturally," Carr said, explaining that evidence shows early men were nomadic hunters and later settled in an area and became farmers.

"The 6500 date -- there may be five or six other sites (in the state) undisturbed from that period. These kinds of sites are pretty significant," he said.